Backfired Revenge
by CarvorEdlund
Summary: Gabriel hates that Castiel and the Winchesters almost left him surrounded by holy oil in that warehouse. He can't think about the fact that they let him leave. He also can't help but blame Dean, since Castiel and Sam always seem to be following Dean's lead. Gabriel's conflicted thoughts aren't helped by the fact that he can't help but sympathise with Sam. Maybe a little too much.
1. chapter 1

Gabriel watched the Winchesters from his corner of the cheap hotel room where he stood invisible. He knew he couldn't stay long. With Castiel there he knew his presence would soon be sensed. But he couldn't seem to stay away, even after Dean almost left him in a warehouse surrounded by burning holy oil. But forgive and forget, right? Wrong. He knew exactly how he felt about Dean. He would get his revenge, that's why he was here. Or so he told himself.

As much as he hated Dean and everything about him, he didn't think Sam or Cassy were as much a part of the decision. Even if they were, Gabriel never could stay angry at Castiel. And Sam? Well he was just... Sam.

Before Gabriel could get too lost in his thoughts, he realized that Cassy had looked up. He didn't speak, just looked around the room, his face a mask of concentration. Finally, Castiel's face was focused in his direction. Before he could think to tell the Winchesters, Gabriel sighed and revealed himself. He had planned to wait a bit until he was ready, but he had come up with enough of a plan to not be bothered to hide himself.

"Gabriel!" Dean practically hissed, "I thought we were done with you a few weeks ago. What are you doing here?" Sam looked almost too surprised to speak while Cassy just stared generally towards the wall. Almost against his will, Gabriel felt himself smirk.

"What am I doing here? Well, Dean, I'll tell you. Since you asked so politely. You were going to leave me. Trapped in a _warehouse_ ," when Gabriel made a pained expression, it was only half faked.

"But we didn't. Which means you don't get to have a grudge," Dean said, doing his best not to let his anger show too much.

"You have a small point there. Which is why I've forgiven Cassy and Sam here. I'm getting the slightest inkling they're the only reason I'm not in that warehouse still. My beef's with you, bucko," Gabriel didn't bother trying to hide his wide grin when he saw the surprise flit across Dean's face.

"Well, at least it's not them you want to hurt..." Dean's voice trailed off, finding comfort in that.

"Are you crazy? I know how much you care about those two crazy kids," he didn't bother to finish the thought. Dean would know exactly what he meant. Gabriel tilted his head in mock concern as Dean unhappily stifled a gulp.

Gabriel laughed suddenly. He was planning to leave them alone for a few days to let them soak up this new information. But who had the patience for that? Grin plastered to his face, Gabriel lifted his fingers and prepared to snap them to their first destination.

Suddenly, intense energy was focused towards his mind, and as he listened hard he recognized it for what it was: a prayer.

 _Gabriel._

That's all it was. Just his name. He looked up and locked eyes with the one who had prayed. Sam Winchester. Gabriel almost broke and left them alone. But he couldn't do that. Maliciously, he widened his grin before snapping his fingers. He regretted it immediately. The look on Sam's face, the way his endlessly deep eyes silently begged him how Gabriel knew he never would put loud.

With a sigh, he felt the smile slide straight off his face. This was going to be exhausting. He loved a good prank, so maybe he'd just leave Sam out of it once in a while. For his own sanity. With a flutter of his wings, he left to go and make sure all was going according to plan.


	2. Chapter 2

"We are not in the same place as a moment ago," Castiel states matter of factly in his usual low voice. But when Sam looked around, all he saw was the hotel room. He couldn't help but notice that Gabriel was no longer there.

Suddenly, Cas doubled over in pain.

"Cas! What's the matter?" Dean had been staring annoyedly into the distance a moment ago, but now that Cas could be injured he was all serious.

"Do not worry. My brother just wanted to make sure that this message wasn't missed," Cas sighed and crawled into the bed, looking purely exhausted. Sam smiled discreetly to himself when he saw it was Dean's.

"So... what's the message?" Sam inquired.

"Ah, yes. I apologize if I have been a bit... distracted lately. My brother wanted to let us know we're in his domain now. He has control over every element of this place," Cas sighed and looked away from them.

"Which means-" Dean began.

"No exits," Castiel didn't move from his position on the bed. Dean awkwardly moved over to the bed and sat down near Cas. It was evident that he had been trying to comfort him, but he didn't know how to go about this. Cas looked at him appreciatively but didn't otherwise react.

"We could still try and find some way to leave. Couldn't we?" Sam asked hopefully.

"I assume we will not leave here until Gabe has gotten whatever he wants. I expect we won't be sitting here doing nothing for much longer." Sam was upset by Cas' immediate rejection. If tthey weren't going to try to leave, what were they going to do?

Suddenly Sam heard the flutter of wings and looked up. He was practically nose to nose with Gabriel.

"Yeah, Sam. What _are_ you going to do?" Gabriel smirked at Sam's shock. Suddenly, he reached his hand up and snapped his fingers. Sam felt himself being transported by Gabe's mojo. Wait, Gabe? Since when was he called Gabe?

"You call me anything you want, Sammich," _Gabriel_ smiled again. How had Sam forgotten about his whole mind reading thing?

Gabriel chose not to say anything else, instead inviting Sam to look around at their new surroundings. They appeared to be in a beach house... In Hawaii.

"What are we doing here?" Sam demanded, "Take me back."

"Oh, Sammich. Always so controlling. You're here because if I left you there, you would have ruined my next few pranks," Gabriel answered. Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Oh lighten up. It'll be funny. Here," Gabriel snapped his fingers and a fairly large television showed up on the table in front of the beds. It turned itself on. On the screen was Cas, sitting rock still on the bed, and Dean, pacing nervously. Gabriel snapped his fingers once more and was suddenly fully tucked into the bed in front of the tv.

"Um, no," Sam tried to pull himself off the bed, but some invisible force was holding him there.

"Um, yes. Don't go anywhere, Samsquatch," Gabriel promptly disappeared. Sam wondered where Gabriel was since he couldn't see him on the tv screen. But he did see movement, aside from Dean's incessant pacing.

Dean was pacing around nervously. He knew what had happened to Sammy. It was that damn archangel. He just had to figure a way to get him back. It was definitely not helping that Cas seemed to think there was nothing they could do.

Suddenly, Dean's attention was caught by movement towards the edge of the room. Deans hunters instinct kicked in as he grabbed the gun out from under his pillow. But there was nothing for him to shoot. The harder he stated at the wall, the more he realized that it was moving. At them.

"Cas," Dean tried to keep the slight panic out of his voice. He was used to fighting monsters, but he'd never had the threat of being crushed between walls on his mind, "Cas, can't you mojo us out of here?"

"I would have done that long ago if it was possible," Cas lookelooked at Dean stoically. Dean wondered how Cas could manage to look so inaffected throughout all of this. Cas seemed to sense Deans distress as he grabbed his arm and pulled him to the center of the room.

Dean wrapped his arms around Cas and just stood there like that. It was nice to forget his worries like this, even for just this one moment.

Suddenly they heard a loud crunching sound and looked up. The bed was disappearing underneath the wall. Apparently it had been crushed and swallowed up by the wall. They shared a nervous look and pressed their backs up against the opposite wall.

As soon as they had done that, _that_ wall started moving towards the center of the room as well.

"Son of a bitch," whispered Dean, fully realizing how much that sped up the process. Cas gave him a mildly disapproving look after hearing his swear, but didn't press the matter.

Before Dean knew it, the walls were compressing his back and chest. He looked at Cs, who still appeared deep in thought. Suddenly, Cas perked up.

"How did I not think of this before?" Cas practically growled.

"Think of what?" Dean managed to squeeze out around the building pressure on his lungs. Cas made eerily determined eye contact.

Without answering Dean's question Cas whispered, "Close your eyes." Dean obeyed as it clicked in his mind what Cas was doing.

Dean saw nothing, but he could feel the way Cas' wings beat furiously, fighting to give Dean back his breath. And for about two seconds, it worked. Then the weight was back on him again. He tried to take a breath, but he felt himself slip into unconsciousness.

Sam had stopped struggling against his bonds long ago. Now he was transfixed, watching everything that went down with Dean and Cas. His breath hitched in his throat when he saw Cas' wings unfurl and he could barely keep it together when the two of them were crushed anyway. They couldn't be dead, that couldn't happen.

He jumped as Gabriel suddenly appeared next to the bed, snapping his fingers to release Sam from the bed. Sam swung his legs around and sat facing him. Gabriel almost wanted to wipe the hopeful expression off Sam's face. It tortured him too much.

"You're right about one thing, Sammich. They're not dead."


	3. Chapter 3

Dean groggily opened his eyes. Above him was Cas. He was dimly aware of being shaken up and down, but the feeling stopped as soon as he was able to sit up. He rubbed his eyes as the memories of what had just happened suddenly washed over him. He hadn't really had his eyes open, but- Christ! Had that been the shadow of Cas' wings? Before he knew what he was thinking, he was wishing he could have seen how they really looked. At least without burning his eyes out. His eyes met Cas'. Cas heaved a sigh of relief.

"Dean, you're all right," his voice was it's usual low tone, but Dean could see the emotion plainly on his face. It was somehow endearing when Cas let his emotions show through.

"Yup," Dean agreed. He stood up and turned in a slow circle, finally getting a good look at their new surroundings. This time they appeared to be in the top of a glass building. It was tall, but Dean could see through to the rocky ground beneath. "So I suppose there's no way you can fly us out of this one."

"No, Dean. Gabriel may want us to escape otherwise, or wait for something else to happen," Cas murmured. Dean rubbed his face, his body language clearly showing his agitation. Dean slowly began to pace as he got his strength back. He liked to be up and moving even if there was no clear purpose to it. Cas crawled around the edges, feeling as far down as he could reach on the walls. Dean wondered if he was searching for a way to leave. Dean walked to the edge and sat, staring up into the clouds. Suddenly he heard a sound, sort of between a pop and a snap. He whipped his head around to see a diving board directly in front of Cas.

"I fear that Gabriel wishes for us to jump," Cas looked at Dean. To Dean's disappointment, his face was back to it's usual guarded mask.

"Of course he does. Why would he want anything different," Dean muttered. Cas gave him a confused look, but Dean just shook his head. "So what now?"

"I suppose we jump," Cas replied.

"Are you crazy? Jump? To our deaths?" Dean gave him an incredulous look.

"I'm an angel. A fall would not kill me. But it is not like Gabriel to kill us this way. If he wants us dead he will do it personally. So the best we can do is to along with him," Cas explained. Dean didn't want to believe him, but he kept quite after seeing the look on Cas' face. He could see that he wanted this probably less than he did. Dean sighed and grabbed Cas by the hand. They walked over to the diving board and stood at the edge. Dean stuck his foot out, prepared to step. Suddenly the entire board disappeared out from underneath him.

"This is why I hate planes," Dean screamed, terrified. Cas appeared to be unfazed, simply dropping like a rock. God, Dean could imagine the smug smile on Gabriel's face and wanted to wipe it off. He focused his attention back on the more pressing situation, the quickly approaching ground. He didn't bother to be embarrassed about the shrill scream that escaped his lips. Then he felt him drop through the ground like it had simply been water, or a cool cloud.

-/\\-_-/\\-_-/\\-

Sam glared at Gabe as he stood, doubled over with laughter. He could hear Dean's scream. He only sounded like that when they were in planes. Gabe's golden curls bounced around his face, and Sam was definitely not noticing that fact. He was also not looking at Gabe's face every time the archangel's attention was elsewhere.

"Sure you're not, Sammy," Gabe stopped laughing and looked at Sam in mock seriousness. Sam suspiciously met his gaze. Suddenly the sound of Dean's screeching met Sam's ears. He was unable to stop himself from letting out a snort. Gabe's smile widened at that. Sam tried to be angry at him, but failed miserably. Gabe laughed once more before seating himself on the bed next to Sam. Close, but not touching. Gabe knew that Sam was sensing this, so he looked at Sam and slowly, deliberately, gave him his trademark grin and wink. Sam rolled his eyes and attempted to sit up. He was surprised when he was able to.

"How far are you going to go with this revenge thing, Gabe?" Sam wondered. He didn't want Dean or Cas getting seriously injured.

"Oh, not so far. I don't think you would like me so much if I hurt them," Gabe pouted then snapped a lollipop into existence. He stuck it into his mouth, Sam's eyes tracking it the whole way. Gabe made mental note of that as he swirled his tongue over his sugary treat.

"You know, we were protecting ourselves back in the warehouse. We don't want the apocalypse. No one does," Sam tried to make Gabriel understand that they had never wished him any harm. Gabe looked at Sam in a rare moment of seriousness.

"I believe you didn't want to hurt me. That's why you're here," Gabriel ended the moment as quickly as possible. "Besides, I didn't want to leave you in there with them, while I'd just be out here. Thinking of all the _fun_ we could have been having." Gabriel expected Sam to laugh, or roll his eyes. He wasn't expecting the sharp intake of breath or the way Sam looked at him, judging how serious he was beneath the joking attitude. Gabriel couldn't help himself any longer. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against Sam's. He could taste his cherry lollipop still, and he could hear that that was what Sam was thinking of. He pulled back after a few more moments before settling himself comfortably into the bed to watch the tv. He grinned triumphantly as he felt Sam slide in next to him.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam woke up to the feel of warm silky sheets enveloping him. The pillows were so soft, and there was that figure beside him, playing with his hair, occasionally tapping on his neck as if driving away boredom. Sam didn't want to wake up, didn't even want to open his eyes or pull away from the figure's touch. He felt the figure sit up abruptly.

"Sammich, you're awake!" How had he managed to forget? He was at Gabriel's place, in _bed_ no less. "That's right. Literally speaking, you slept with me." Sam's first reaction was to roll his eyes, but suddenly he realized he wasn't so sure. Panicking slightly, he tried to sift through his memories of the previous night.

"Don't worry, Sammy. Your virtue is safe. Unless you don't want it to be," Gabriel grinned and winked suggestively.

"Shut up, Gabe," Sam grunted, dragging himself into more of a sitting position.

"Oh, he speaks!" Gabriel exclaimed, "Come on, Sam. Let's get you up and at 'em." Gabriel grabbed Sam by the arms and pulled him over to a table that had apparently sprouted up overnight. Sam sat down in front of it and Gabriel snapped him up some coffee. Gabriel sat in a chair across from Sam while he took a sip from his mug. He noticed with a grudging smile that his mug was decorated with a picture of a moose.

"What about Dean and Cas?" As much as Sam enjoyed coffee and sleep, he didn't want to let himself forget about his brother and their friend. Gabriel seemed annoyed that Sam had decided to bring up the subject.

"I'm not hurting them! Why is this a problem?" Gabriel pouted.

"I just want to know that they're s-"

"They _are._ You might not believe this, but I don't want to hurt your brother, much less my own," Sam saw where Gabe was coming from, of course. But he couldn't believe that his Gabe would hold a grudge this long. "I'm ...your Gabe?"

"That was hardly the point," Sam took another sip of his coffee, slightly exasperated.

""Fine, okay. But what if we leave them in there and just... change their situation a little," Gabriel smirked at Sam's confused expression, "You had to have noticed how they start at each other. I'm surprised they've been able to keep their clothes on this long."

"Each situation could progressively be more like a date!" exclaimed Sam, chiming in.

"Yes," Gabriel agreed, leaning towards Sam over the table, "I should have you help me with pranks all the time. You've got some ideas cooking around up there." Sam nudged Gabriel's foot under the table.

"It's one thing to read my immediate thoughts and another to root around through my past ones. Please don't do that without permission."

"Are you implying that I will, at some point, have permission?" Gabriel wilted slightly under Sam's stern gaze. "Ok, ok fine."

" _Thank_ you," Sam huffed. Gabriel perked right back up.

"I'm in the mood for some Destiel, how about you?" Gabriel asked, picking up the remote and flipping the tv screen to show Dean and Cas.

"You came up with a ship name?" Sam really wasn't going to be surprised by anything anymore.

"First of all, I read it on a fan fiction site. Second, _how about you?_ " Sam pulled a face before responding.

"Yeah, I could definitely go for some Destiel right now," Sam met Gabe's smirk with an equally evil glint in his eye that would make anyone on the receiving end of one of their pranks extremely nervous.


	5. Chapter 5

Dean was becoming increasingly panicked as he drew closer and closer to the ground. He could still see Cas out of the corner of his eye. He was falling at a diagonal angle, arms crossed in annoyance. His trench coat was flapping around, only still attached because of the way his arms were positioned. Dean focused his attention on a more pressing matter: the ground. And more specifically, how quickly it was now approaching. Only a few meters up now, Dean flailed his arms around wildly, looking for something, anything, to cling to. His fingers closed a he felt something solid. It was Cas' foot. Better than nothing. He clung tight. He squeezed his eyes shut and worked hard to hold back the scream that he could feel building up in the back of his throat. After what seemed like decades, he felt his foot touch the ground. Lightly. He felt his butt touch down on a cushion, but he was unwilling to open his eyes or let go of Cas' foot just in case.

"Dean, you're still holding... you've got my..." Cas trailed off. Dean cracked his eyes open. They were in a dark room, seated in a row of cushioned chairs. It looked like.. a movie theater. And his fingers were tightly twined with Cas'. No! He had grabbed Cas' foot, because they were falling to their deaths! He had definitely not walked into a movie theater with Cas and then grabbed his hand. He had to remind himself repeatedly that this was Gabriel's doing. A trick from the former Trickster. All of a sudden he remembered where his hand was and snatched it onto his lap. At that moment the screen in front of them flickered to life. Dean could see right from the beginning that this was some sort of sappy romance movie. Wow, Gabriel was good at torturing people. He didn't bother trying to get up. He assumed it would be fruitless.

"Cas?" Dean began nonchalantly. He didn't want to attract attention in case this was a real movie theater, "when do you suppose Gabriel will be done?" Cas opened his mouth to reply, but was stopped when his hand, seemingly of it's own accord, stuffed a handful of popcorn at his face. Cas' face was confused and extremely shocked.

"I don't- aghshjdc- even- dfghjk- eat," Cas choked out from around the popcorn. Dean grabbed his popcorn filled wrist and tried unsuccessfully to hold it still. Cas' hand was relentless. Finally, a piece of the popcorn went down Cas' throat. The hand stopped immediately. Cas threw off the popcorn that had spilled on his lapped and grabbed one small puff and looked at it suspiciously. "Fine, Gabriel. I'll eat some popcorn." He popped the piece into his mouth, chewing slowly. Dean suddenly felt his own hand apparently grow a mind of it's own and grab a handful of popcorn. It shoved the food at his face forcefully. Dean quickly chewed and swallowed some, getting the message.

He sighed, reaching for the popcorn bowl that was now situated neatly between them. He tensed up when he felt his hand brush against Cas'. Suddenly neither of them had control over their hands, and they twined into each other. Dean tried to will himself to pull his hand away, but to no avail. Seriously, Gabriel. How cliché. He looked up at Cas, suddenly uncertain. Their eyes met, and Dean suddenly couldn't look away. Only this time, he knew Gabriel wasn't controlling his actions. Suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"You know why Gabriel chose to zap us to a movie theater, right? And then did, well, _that_ to our hands?" Dean continued to stare at Castiel, his gaze never leaving his blue gaze.

"No," Cas admitted.

"Well, I'm going to put this very bluntly. They want us to hook up. and I'm willing to bet that if we don't do something about this, the situations are just going to get wildly inappropriate," Dean studied Cas' reaction. He seemed confused, but also like he was starting to catch on. Eventually, he nodded slowly.

"So what do we do?" Cas asked. Dean stopped for a moment, thinking.

"What he wants, I guess. That'll at least get us out of this theater and to the next place," Dean replied. He half expected Cas to scoff at him, but he was nodding his head again.

"Well," Cas whispered, "at least it will be far from unpleasant." Dean breathed in sharply and leaned towards Cas. Cas leaned towards him as well, though he looked less certain now. But any trace of that was wiped away when Dean closed the already small gap between them. Dean pressed his lips to Cas' and he could taste the buttery popcorn. Under that he could taste something like fresh air and pureness that was just so _Castiel._ It was a kiss and a kiss only. It didn't go any further, which Dean assumed was why he didn't feel his surroundings changing around him. But he couldn't bring himself to care. Cas tried to pull away, but Dean growled possessively into his mouth and pulled him closer.

Suddenly, Dean heard whistling. Then, what was unmistakably Gabriel's voice. He leaned back from Cas in order to look up. On the movie scene, replacing the actors, were Gabriel and Sam. Sam was sitting cross-legged up by the pillows while Gabriel sat farther forward with his legs dangling off the bed.

"Nice," Gabriel hooted, "Good show, boys." Neither Cas nor Dean responded and he looked dejected for a moment. "What, nothing to say?"

Dean looked at Cas who shrugged. "Is Sam okay?"

"Yeah, obviously. He's right there, "Gabriel gestured backwards to Sam, "Seriously, when will you get over your dangerous codependency?" Gabriel looked at Sam who simply shrugged.

"What do you want, brother?" Cas asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Well, since you asked so nicely, I'll tell you little bro. I'm not sure if you two pulled your heads out of your asses or if you just want me to let you go. So, you're going to go somewhere private until I'm sure. And until then, Sammy here stays with me. Who knows, he might even stay longer..."Dean was horrified by what he was hearing. Was Gabriel threatening Sam? The small smile on Sam's face was certainly not helping anything.

"Are you thre-"

"No, Dean. Sammy and I have pulled our heads out of our asses. A feat I'm hoping you will also accomplish," with that Gabriel turned to Sam, tackling him gently to the bed. The screen went black and Dean was gripped with growing horror.

.v.^.V.^.v.^.V.^.v

Sam fell backwards, shocked, as he felt Gabriel tackle him softly against the bed. As soon as the tv screen went black, Gabe jumped up and off him.

"Sorry, Sammich. I know I went a little off script with that last part," Sam sat back up and rested his back against the wall.

"A little," he refused to show how much that had affected him as he purposely ignored the fact that Gabe was probably listening to everything he thought. Gabe snorted.

"First of all, it's not even like I'm eavesdropping. All your thoughts are like screams. Secondly, I needed to shock them into action, okay? There wasn't much I could think of to do and then that sort of just popped into my head. So I went with it," Gabe defended himself.

"So are we just supposed to keep acting whenever they're around?" Sam asked. Gabriel visibly flinched.

"You think I'm acting?" he whispered quietly. This was the most serious Sam had ever seen the archangel, when he was in pain. Sam had to say he didn't like it. He wanted nothing more than to bring that stupid grin back to Gabe's face. But if this wasn't real, this connection he had thought they had, then he wouldn't want to trick himself into thinking it was.

"Sam, nothing about this is fake. Nothing," Gabe reached out and touched Sam's face gently. Sam looked up into his champagne colored eyes and allowed himself to be a little relieved.

"Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I did, Sammich. I, ... I love you," Sam's heart jumped and he reached out to Gabe.

"Well that's good because I love you too," his voice was seeming much more steady than he felt. Slowly, that teasing, lazy grin that Gabe had was sliding back onto his face.

"You think my eyes are the same color as champagne. Is that a good thing?" the teasing in his voice was evident.

"Hm, I don't know. Maybe blue would be better. Like Cas' eyes," he burst out laughing hysterically as Gabe whacked him in the back of the head with a pillow.

"Cas doesn't have better eyes than me," Gabe whined, pressing Sam back against the bed. Sam reached his hand up to run his fingers through Gabe's shortish brown/blonde hair. Gabe reached down and their lips connected. This was nothing like the first time it happened. The first time Sam had been analyzing everything, it hadn't stopped him thinking. The taste was the same, but now Sam's head was buzzing pleasantly as Gabe's tongue tapped against his lip, asking for entrance. Gladly, Sam gave it. Their tongues wrestled together, twined and untwined. With a small laugh he realized Gabe had made this into a game. He was trying to wear out his tongue until Gabe had all of the control. Well, he wasn't going to lose at this game. No way.

Less than a minute later, Sam lost. At some point in the last thirty seconds, Gabe had pinned Sam's arms over his head and was now trying to press his mouth on every surface inside of Sam's mouth. Sam had been attempting to do the same to Gabe, but his tongue had gotten sore and he just let him do what he wanted. Anyway, it's not like the prize Gabe got for winning was anything Sam was going to complain about. Sam felt Gabe's mouth turn up in his signature smirk, probably because he had heard what Sam was thinking. How did he keep forgetting that he was basically projecting all of his thoughts at Gabriel?

"Hey, at least you stopped blaming me for it," the archangel chuckled, pulling his head back from Sam. Sam protested with a sound he would never, under any circumstances, admit to making. "Easy there, tiger. Destiel, remember?" Sam hadn't wanted his moment with Gabe to end, but he was definitely willing to make a sacrifice in order for Dean and Cas to get a move on already. Sam pushed himself up as Gabe rolled to the side. After a bit of shifting around, they were settled comfortably facing the tv. Sam held back a small laugh when he noticed that Gabe was curled up against him like a cat.

 **Hey peoples. You probably noticed that some of my chapters are better than others. This really depends on whether I decided to type and submit it at two in the morning or not. I realize that's probably not so smart, so I'll try to start updating when it's daytime for me. For the sake of the quality. Anyway, please leave reviews, I like to know what you think especially if it can help me improve. So basically, even bad reviews are encouraged.**


	6. Chapter 6

Castiel didn't know very much about human emotions, but he could say for sure that the one he was experiencing was annoyance, or else something very similar to it. Dean was very stubbornly standing outside the entrance to the zoo, refusing to step inside. But Cas wanted to see all of the animals and admire them. He knew many of the animals kept in the zoo were endangered and he hated it when creatures so simple yet so beautiful were in pain or danger. He had tried to explain to Dean, but he hadn't understood. He'd thought that the animals in the zoo were illusions, or Gabe's creations. But Castiel could sense the life in them and wanted to be near them.

"Dean, if we can't go in, why must we stand and do nothing instead?" he looked at Dean, pleading with his "puppy dog" eyes. He didn't understand what his face had to do with canines, but this particular expression came in handy when convincing Dean of something. Dean stared at him for a moment before grunting incomprehensibly and pulled Cas through the arching gate. This emotion, he knew, was called excitement.

Cas and Dean came to a full stop when the path forked into two directions. There were two wooden signs. The one pointing left was called Primate Paradise, while the one to the right was simply labeled Lion Enclosure.

"But Dean, you are a primate, yet you are not in the Primate Paradise. And I don't understand why the lions must be enclosed," Castiel tried to figure out what the strange combinations of words meant exactly, but he wasn't having very much luck. Cas looked at Dean and saw the happiness on his face. Maybe if they had fun at the zoo, Gabriel would allow them to leave his game. He was determined to make Dean have fun, for more than just that reason.

"If you choose left or right, I'll explain when we get there," Cas felt honored to be allowed to make the decision, so he took a moment to decide which subject he was more interested in learning about. Hopefully they would be able to turn around and see the other afterwards. Finally, he settled on Primate Paradise, wondering why some primates got to be there but not others. So Dean grabbed Cas by the arm and led him swiftly towards the exposed area, completely surrounded by glass. Cas peered inside and was surprised when a small human like creature covered with fur and a tail met his eyes. _Oh,_ he thought, _so by primates they meant monkeys._ Him and the monkey cocked their heads at each other and he heard Dean laugh from behind him.

"Do they not get bored in there? I have had experience with humans not having something to do," Cas looked at Dean, who rolled his eyes.

"No, Cas. Monkeys are playful. They make fun and games for themselves," Castiel nodded, understanding a bit better. But there was still one piece of the puzzle that didn't fit.

"This is a monkey's idea of paradise?" Dean's eyes widened a bit and he burst into full on laughter. Cas was a little put out from being laughed at, but he busied himself with studying the monkey. It tilted it's head once more before scurrying off to pick a bug off of a tree. Finally, Dean's laughing slowed and Castiel looked up at him to make sure it was over.

"No! No, it's advertising," Dean quickly caught his breath, "Why don't we look at some of the other animals?"

So Cas and Dean made their way around the zoo, stopping to visit each animal at least once. Dean could have watched the wolves prowl around for hours. Cas particularly liked the lions, but he was positively entranced by the eagle they had found in a corner of the zoo. It was very popular with the humans, but it hadn't found a good home in the zoo. The ferocious bird of prey was trapped in a small cage like enclosure with barely enough room to stretch his wings. And he had large, beautiful wings. They reminded Cas of an archangel's wing in size, and particularly Gabriel's in color. They were white with flecks of shimmering gold feathers throughout. Dean would stare at them and catch himself wondering what Cas' wings looked like. Castiel would look into it's eyes and see not a pet meant for a zoo, but an independent free spirit who only wanted to take to the skies again. Castiel found he could relate to the bird quite painfully. He waited until the area was cleared of people. He gently placed his hands on the glass.

"If I were you, Dean, I would duck," and with that the glass exploded, leaving a bare opening where the once solid pane had been. The eagle screeched gratefully and joyously as it's spread it's wings fully for the first time since it had arrived at the zoo. It flapped almost wildly, building itself up to an acceptable height, before gracefully gliding out of sight. Dean crawled out from behind a boulder he had flung himself behind. He was wearing a disbelieving expression and Cas wasn't sure if he should be nervous or not. Dean walked slowly towards him.

"Y- You just-"

"I know, Dean. And I'm sorr-"

"No. I hope you're not sorry because that was amazing," Cas positively glowed at the praise. He smiled and looked again at the spot where the eagle had disappeared over the tree line. Dean slowly lifted his hand to turn Cas' attention back on himself. "That was amazing," Dean repeated, "and you're amazing."

"No," whispered Cas.

"No?" Dean echoed.

"No," Cas affirmed, "I raised you from perdition, yet you still managed to be the one to save me. That makes you amazing." Dean smiled at him and he couldn't help return it as he gazed into his deep green eyes.

"Cas, you've been with us since the beginning. You're a brother to Sam and maybe even more to me."

"Maybe?" Cas asked, half nervous and half teasing.

"Okay, definitely. I love you, Cas," Cas glanced up once more at he sky, then returned his gaze to Dean.

"I love you as well, Dean. Very much," Cas reached out for Dean's hand, but no sooner than had he said those words, he felt Dean and himself being whisked through space. He remembered Dean's discomfort with angel travel and reached out to grasp him by the arm, effectively steadying him.

[] ... [] ... [] ... []

Gabriel was still watching the zoo scene unfold on the television, but Sam had long since fallen asleep. Now he was the one curled up like a cat. Gabe occasionally chuckled at something Cassie said, but too often his eyes would unfocus and he would find himself thinking about Sam. He would sling his arm around Sam's waist and just wait for Destiel to be finished with the zoo so he could snap them to their next destination and wake Sammich. He would have woken him already, but he was waiting until Destiel's day trip was over. Suddenly he heard a faint pop. _Crap!_ His game was set so when both halves of Destiel admitted their love, they wouldn't be transported here with minimal effort for himself. Meaning they were here right now. And he was aware how he and Sam-a-lamb looked curled up together like this. Wearily he looked over to see Cas practically holding Dean up. Dean was staring at him, and his gaze slowly transferred to Sam.

"Wh-, but, but ,bu- , Sam, Gab-, Cas?" Dean stuttered. Cas shrugged helplessly, less surprised than Dean was at the situation. Gabriel sighed before gently waking Sam from his sleep. He blearily rubbed his eyes and gazed around the room until his eyes settled on Dean and Cas. Sam looked back at Gabriel.

"They're here," Sam muttered grumpily.

"Yeah, way to state the obvious, kid," Gabriel answered, flicking some hair out of Sammy's face. He could literally feel Dean's glare attempting to bore holes into him, but he did his best to ignore it. Sam groaned, still mostly asleep. "They can leave if you want though," he smiled mischievously at Dean over Sam's shoulder. Dean's eyes popped and he started mouthing 'no' at Sam. Sam waved a hand dismissively at them with a very eloquent "Eh." Sam rolled over and pressed his face against Gabriel's chest. If asked about this, he probably would have replied that it was warm. But Gabe the mind reader knew otherwise. If Dean and Cas weren't there he would have stayed like that, but as it were, he raised his hand to Sam's forehead and cleared the sleep induced fog from his mind.

"Yeah, right, well," Dean once again started to speak, " _Sammy get up!_ " Sam started and Gabriel quickly snapped him into flannel and a pair of jeans. Sam cautiously stood up while Gabriel lazily put his arms behind his head and crossed his legs. Gabriel closed his eyes for a moment before cracking them open to watch the situation, ready to defend Sammy in an argument if necessary.

" _Sammy what in Hell do you think you've been doing?"_

"Umm. Nothing?"

"It BETTER have been freaking nothing!" Dean yelled. Gabriel broke in before Sam could say anything.

"First of all, if you count Sam falling asleep watching you guys on tv nothing, then yeah. It was nothing. And let's just say, for conversations sake, that something beyond that had happened. Wouldn't it be a bit hypocritical for you to be against it?" Gabriel asked, gesturing at Cas. Dean spluttered for a second having no good comeback.

"Dean, he _is_ right about that," Cas interjected, surprising even Gabriel. He opened his mouth to say something sarcastic, but he closed it again when he felt Sammich's hand on his arm.

"Okay maybe," Dean continued after a look from Cas, "Alright, yeah, fine."

"Well in that case," Gabriel began laughingly, "it wouldn't hurt you know that I kissed him. Twice."


End file.
